Two Poteau Residents Including Former City Councilman Sentenced for Drug Conspiracy and Distribution of Methamphetamine

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced the sentencings of Joe David White, age 58, and Laci Marie Fox a/k/a Laci Marie Noah, age 27, both from Poteau, Oklahoma, on charges of Drug Conspiracy and Distribution of Methamphetamine. White, a former Poteau City Councilman, was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment and 4 years of supervised release. Fox was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment and 4 years of supervised release.

The investigation which lead to the indictment and sentencing was conducted by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, District 16 District Attorney Narcotics Task Force, and Poteau Police Department.

The defendants had previously entered guilty pleas to an Indictment alleging that beginning in 2015 and continuing until January 9, 2017, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the defendants knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed together, and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance. The Indictment also alleged that on September 1, 2016 and December 15, 2016 the defendants knowingly distributed a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine.

United States Attorney Brian J. Kuester said, “Methamphetamine dealers deliver tragedy to communities along with the poison they sell for profit. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is proud to partner with state and local agencies, as we did here, to make a positive impact in Eastern Oklahoma by eliminating a distribution source.” 

The Honorable Ronald A. White, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing. First Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Wilson represented the United States.